All 
S65 







Glass 
Book 









*' 



o r . 






tfi*^t?ZL. />, ^^^^C 



£«. 



«^j^ 



^ GOD, THE REFUGE OF HIS PEOPLE. 

ASEBMON, 






DELIVERED BEFORE 



ISi-J 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 



OF 



SOUTH CAROLINA, 



ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1850, 



BEING A DAT OP 



FASTING, HUMILIATION AND PRAYER. 



BY WHITEFOORD SMITH, D- D, 



COLUMBIA, S..C. 

PRINTED BY A. S. JOHNSTON. 



1850. 



* : s^3i^B^ii^^ 















I 






J 



GOD, THE REFUGE OF HIS PEOPLE. 

A SERMON, 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 



OP 



SOUTH CAROLINA, 



ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER G, 1850, 



BEING A DAV OF 



FASTING, HUMILIATION AND PRAYER. 



BY WHITEF00RD SMITH, D D. 



COLUMBIA, S. C. 

PRINTED BY A. S. JOHNSTON. 

1850, 






*/ SS 



EXTRACT 

From the Message of his Excellency. W. B. Seabrook. 

a In recommending, as I now do, that South Carolina should interpose 
her sovereignty in order to protect her citizens, and that by co-operation 
■with her aggrieved sister States, she may be enabled to aid in averting 
the doom which impends over the civil institutions of the South, it is fit 
and proper that, as a Commonwealth, we should, at an early day, to be de- 
signated by you, implore the God of our fathers for the pardon of our mani- 
fold transgressions, and invoke his protection and guidance in this our 
day of trouble and affliction ; that he would graciously vouchsafe to en- 
lighten the minds of our Federal rulers, the North and its citizens, and 
direct them in the way of truth, of reason and of justice, and preserve a 
once happy political family from the unspeakable horrors of civil strife." 

From the Journal of the House of Representatives, 
November 26, 1850. 

Mr. Memminger submitted the following Preamble and Resolutions, 
which were ordered to be considered immediately, and were agreed to : 

Whereas, it becomes a Christian people, at all times to look to the 
King of Kings for guidance and direction, but more especially in sea- 
sons of trial and difficulty ; and, whereas, the enactments of the last 
Congress of the United States have destroyed the equal rights of the 
Southern States, have invaded the peace and security of our homes, and 
must lead to an overthrow of the existing order of things : therefore, 

Resolved, unanimously. That we recommend to the people of South 
Carolina, to set apart Friday, the Gth of December, as a day of fasting 
and humiliation, and that the Reverend Clergy throughout the State be 
invited to assemble their respective congregations on that day, to unite 
in prayer to Almighty God, that He may direct and aid this General 
Assembly in devising such means as will conduce to the best interests 
and welfare of our beloved State. 



2. Resolved, unanimously, That religious services and a sermon ap- 
propriate to the occasion be had in the Hall of the House of Represent- 
atives, and that a fitting Clergyman be invited to officiate. 

3. Resolved, unanimously, That a committee of three be appointed 
on the part of this House, and that a message be sent to the Senate pro- 
posing the appointment of a like Committee to meet the Committee of 
this House, for the purpose of carrying into effect these resolutions. 

From the Journal of the House of Represetitatives, 
December 7, 1850. 
Mr. E. P. Jones submitted the following resolutions, which were or- 
dered to be considered immediately, and were agreed to : 

1. Resolved, That a copy of the able and eloquent discourse, delivered 
before the General Assembly, by the Rev. "Whitefoord Smith, be requested 
of him for publication. 

2. Resolved, That a committee of three, on the part of this house, be 
appointed to meet a similar committee on the part of the Senate, for the 
purpose of making the request, and directing the publication. 

3. Resolved, That two thousand copies be published. 

In the Senate, on the same day, the message of the House was con- 
curred in, and Messrs. Moses, Manning, and Griffin appointed on the 
committee. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Senate Chamber, 
Columbia, Dec. 10, 1850. 

Rev. Whitefoord Smith. 

Dear Sir : — We take pleasure in communicating, as a committee ap- 
pointed for that purpose, the unanimous resolution of both Houses of the 
Legislature, requesting, for publication, a copy of your able, impressive 
and eloquent Sermon, delivered at the solicitation of the General Assem- 
bly of the State, on the day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. 

In performing this duty, permit us to assure you of the high conside- 
ration with which we subscribe ourselves, 

Very respectfully yours, 

FRANKLIN J. MOSES, 

Chair, of Senate Com, 
E. P. JONES, 

Chair, oj House Com. 



Columbia, Dec. 10, 1850. 
Gentlemen: — Your note of this date, conveying the request of the 
General Assembly of South Carolina, for a copy of the Sermon deliver- 
ed before that body, on Friday, the 6th inst. for publication, is before me. 
I cannot forbear the expression of my profound gratitude for the kind 
manner in which the discourse has been received by the Legislature. 
The manuscript is placed at your disposal. 
With the highest consideration, 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, 

Yours, &c. 
WHITEFOOKD SMITH. 

To the Hon. F. J. Moses, ) r— ••«•■ 

-r, T-» T i I > Committee. 

E. P. Jones, and others, ) 



SERMON. 



God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. There- 
fore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the 
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea ; though the waters 
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the 
swelling thereof. The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is 
cur refuge. Psalms, xlvj. 1, 2, 3, and 1 1. 

Never, ill the history of our State, have our people been called 
to the observance of a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, 
under circumstances so peculiar and critical, as those which 
now surround us. 

For near three quarters of a century our country has enjoyed 
a state of almost uninterrupted internal tranquility, and pursued 
her steady and onward course towards that point of greatness 
and glory to which the Providence of God had called her. In 
the legitimate exercise of the functions of government, there 
seemed nothing to retard her progress, and the eye of hope was 
already dazzled with the splendor of the future, while anticipa- 
ting the development of her illimitable resources. The capa- 
bility of man for self-government was the theme of the proud 
American, as he pointed to each bright page of his country's 
history, rendered illustrious by acts of patriotism which claimed 
the admiration of the world. No scenes of moral sublimity bad 
Time's long calendar chronicled, grander than the Declaration of 
American Independence, and the adoption of our Federal Con- 
stitution. No name shone brighter on the roll which fame had 



8 GOD, THE REFUGE 

made immortal, than that of the Christian "Washington. The 
future was radiant with the reflection of the past, and down the 
long vista of coming years, the sanguine could already discern 
the last-born star of the political firmament, outshining every 
sister planet, and reigning " lord of the ascendant." 

But it is not to be disguised that all these bright hopes have 
become clouded — that the most serious dissensions have arisen 
among us — and that while we are at peace with all the foreign 
powers of the world, we are the subjects of an internal convul- 
sion which threatens the overthrow of our government. There 
is reason to apprehend that the confederated States of this 
Union, 

" That stood the storm when waves were rough, 
Shall, in a sunny hour fall off, 
Like ships that have gone down at sea, 
When Heaven was all tranquility." 

At such a time, when such dangers threaten us, nothing sure- 
ly can be more appropriate and becoming than that, as a Chris- 
tian people, we should recognize the supreme control of God, 
and with a true and sincere humiliation, present ourselves before 
the Throne of Grace, to ask the guidance of the All- wise, the 
support of the Almighty. 

While the perilous condition of our country is of itself suffi- 
cient to justify the appointment you have made of this day for 
fasting, humiliation and prayer, the sable drapery of these halls 
of legislation admonishes us that South Carolina has other griefs, 
which should lay her in the dust before God. 

For many years past, in every exigency of her history, she has 
been accustomed to turn her eyes to that favored son, whose wis- 
dom and far-seeing sagacity pre-eminently qualified him to di- 
rect the public mind, and upon whose virtue and firmness she 
leaned as on the pillar of her strength. But in vain do we look 
to meet the glance of that piercing eye— in vain do we listen 
for the commanding tones of that unfaltering voice— in vain 
do we seek the motion of that hand which always pointed out 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 9 

the path of duty and of honour. Carolina's long-loved son is 
gone, 

u Like a summer-dried fountain 
When our need was the sorest." 

The flowers on his tomb are yet scarcely withered — the eyes 
that wept for him are yet moistened with tears — the hearts that 
bled at his departure are not yet healed. But alas ! he is gone. 
And while the cry of his own dear State is rallying her sons 
to the rescue, he, who was ever foremost to answer to her call, 
comes not now. 

• " He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle, 
No sound shall awake him to glory again." 

Strange and mysterious was the dispensation of Providence 
which removed him from us at such a time. But like the He- 
brew Prophet, who had led his people through all the intricacies 
of the wilderness and the perils of the desert, till they were in 
sight of the promised land, yet was not permitted to enter that 
land and head their hosts in battle with their foes ; so our illus- 
trious statesman, who for years had predicted the coming of 
this day and of these events, was only allowed to guide us to 
the passage of this Jordan, and then his work was done. May 
He who has taken away our Moses, give us another Joshua ! 

Nor while we visit with tears the grave of our Calhoun, can 
we forget that he who was called to succeed him in the high 
honours of the Senatorial office, has likewise followed him with 
rapid step to the grave. 

From our Judiciary, also, in the last twelve-month, have been 
removed two bright luminaries of the law ; one in the maturity 
of years and honours, the other in the meridian of life and useful- 
ness. A visitation so extraordinary may well be expected to 
produce the deepest impression. While we are thus solemnly 
reminded of the uncertainty and frailty of all human depen- 
dence, it becomes us to put our trust in Him who is the rock and 
the refuge of his people. Surely Heaven could scarce address 



10 GOD, THE REFUGE 

us in plainer or in louder tones, commanding us to cease from 
man, and to make God the only object of our faith. 

It is a practice sanctioned by a high antiquity, and com- 
mended by every consideration both of reason and religion, that 
a people, in any crisis of their history, should turn their thoughts 
to God. Even heathen nations, whose brightest illuminations 
were but the indistinct lights of natural religion, acknowledged 
this propriety. Political disasters were followed by sacrifices 
and humiliation ; and difficulties were solved, and perplexities 
relieved, by consulting the oracles of their gods. And surely 
nothing is more fitting to a Christian people, bowed under the 
weight of manifold afflictions, than a true and penitent humilia- 
tion — nothing more proper to them, when surrounded by peril, 
than acts of supplication and prayer. And let it be distinctly 
remembered, that we claim to be a Christian people. 

The causes which have led to the existing crisis in our public 
affairs, have been often superficially and imperfectly considered. 
By forgetting our relation to God as a Christian nation, we lose 
sight of moral causes, and turn our eyes only to external and 
political ones. He who supposes that all the excitement and 
danger which now pervade our land are the result of abolition- 
ism alone, has not thoroughly explored the subject, and has 
formed a very inadequate conception of the evil. The disposi- 
tion to interfere with the slave institutions of the South, is but 
one of the ebullitions of a spirit of insubordination and lawless- 
ness, of infidelity and atheism. In the eyes of this fanaticism, 
the rights of the South are as sacred as those of the North. But 
to it, no rights are sacred. The law and revealed. will of God 
have declared it to be consistent with his moral government 
and wise purposes, that differences should exisl in human for- 
tunes ; that there should be rich and poor, high and low, bond 
and live. It is in an t,i monism to these great principles of our 
holy religion, thai the wild passions of the godless arc anayed. 
In their esteem, a Bible, which proclaims the righl of one man 
to a larger possession than another, is a cheat, an imposition, a 
cunningly devised fable. A God who should order such inequal- 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 11 

ities in the temporal condition of men, is no God. Religion, 
therefore, they consider priestcraft — revelation a shameless im- 
posture—the God of the Bible their sworn and bitter foe. They 
may not yet have gathered the strength and courage necessary 
for so open an avowal of their views and designs, or, with a cun- 
ning policy, they may be biding their time for the declaration ; 
but when the one or the other shall justify the announcement, 
the war-cry of their ranks will be universal equality and no re- 
ligion — -their oriflamme, the bloody flag. 

When that day shall come, which to all appearance is fast 
approaching, they who now, instead of supporting the Constitu- 
tion and laws of our Government, either passively look on at 
this gathering storm of human passion, or seek to direct it hith- 
er for their own security, will be the first victims of its violence. 
For, let them not suppose that the infuriate mob will desire to 
seek their homes amid the malaria of southern swamps, when 
they can so easily avail themselves of a nearer possession in the 
beautiful villas of the Hudson and the Delaware. 

It is, unfortunately, too common, to confound the religious 
freedom which our Constitution secures to every man, with infi- 
delity and atheism ; to suppose, because we repudiate Church es- 
tablishments, we acknowledge no religion. Nothing can be more 
false in fact — nothing more fatal in practice. The laws and in- 
stitutions of our land are all avowedly Christian. While pre- 
eminence is given to no particular church or denomination 

while no religious tests of conformity or orthodoxy are demand- 
ed — while freedom to worship God according to the dictates of 
his conscience, is guarantied to every man — yet still we claim 
to be a Christian people What means the adjournment of this 
(i neral Assembly from Saturday to .Monday, but the recognition 
of the Christian Sabbath? What arguments have we for the 
protection of our rights of property, that are not founded on the 
Christian Revelation? What insurmountable barrier do Ave pre- 
sent against the pretended philanthropy of those who would over- 
turn our domestic institutions, but the living oracles of God? 

It may well constitute a subject of humiliation to us on this 



12 GOD, THE REFUGE 

day, that, in this particular, our practice has been so far beneath 
our creed. We can scarcely suppose that any intelligent citizen 
of this State can be found, who would be willing to imitate un- 
happy France in her bloody revolution, either in the repudiation 
of religion, or in the general and authorized profanation of the 
Sabbath. Yet, how frequently it happens, that those who shud- 
der at the thought of what would be the result of a general and 
legalized act, seem unconscious of the evil of an individual or 
partial dereliction ! 

Think not, Legislators of South Carolina, when a portion of 
your fellow-citizens appeal to you in petitions for the suppression 
of immoralities and the prevention of violations of the Divine 
Law, that it is with any disposition to coerce their neighbors into 
the practice of religion by the civil power. The idea of conver- 
sion by force is the exploded theory of a bye-gone age. But it 
is because, with the spirit of true patriotism, they look upon this 
as a Christian State ; and they would have all its statutes built 
upon a sure and permanent foundation. They believe that a 
due respect to God's laws is the certain way to secure his favor 
for their land — to promote its prosperity — to augment its glory. — 
They have learned, as well from the history of all the kingdoms 
of the earth, as from the inspired record, that " righteouness ex- 
alteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." And when 
the day of invasion or peril shall come, they would gird on the 
harness of war, not trembling with fear, the first-born child of 
guilt ; but triumphant in hope, the fruit of confidence in God. 
They would answer the reproachful addresses of their foes in the 
language of the once happy Israel to the haughty Assyrian : 

" The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and 
laughed thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken 
her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed ; 
and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up 
thine eyes on high ? Even against the Holy One of Israel." 

Since, however, the peculiar domestic institution of the South 
is made the ostensible cause for all the wrongs of which we com- 
plain in the Federal legislation of our country, let us turn our 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 13 

attention to it briefly. As Christians, we are called to admit that 
all things are under the special, superintending providence of 
God. We shall not go back to trace the origin and history of 
slavery through the patriarchal and prophetic ages, nor stop to 
note its Divine recognition in the dispensation of God's chosen 
people. These are matters too patent and indisputable to be 
questioned even by its most relentless opponents. But the hor- 
rors of the slave-trade have furnished a copious theme for phi- 
lanthropic declamation, while the barbarism and cannibalism 
of the untaught African have been always overlooked. Can we 
doubt that the hand of God was mighty enough to have prevent- 
ed all this inhumanity, if his providence had no purposes of 
mercy and wisdom to serve in the permission of a temporary 
evil to effect an ultimate and incalculable good ? And if we 
could dispossess our minds of those prejudices which warp our 
better judgment, and look rather to the way in which God brings 
good out of seeming evil, to what different conclusions should 
we come, than when, following the blindness of our own reason 
and passions, we undertake to challenge His justice and good- 
ness ? If we form our opinions of good and evil, not according 
to principles of worldly expediency, but, as Christians ought to 
do, according to the word of God, considering a future life as 
well as the present, can there be any question that the negro race 
among us. under all the supposed disadvantages of slavery, are 
happier than were their fathers in their native land, or than they 
themselves could be in any place or in any condition that is re- 
ally practicable ? They who make slavery a cause of offence, 
fight not against us, but against God. "Who, in the creation, form- 
ed these lands and suited them to that peculiar culture which 
makes their product the great staple of the world ? Who, of all 
the various tribes of men, has adapted this peculiar people to this 
climate and fitted them for this very toil? Who, in his own in- 
finite wisdom, gave those rules for the regulation of this relation, 
so that it might be a blessing both to the master and his slave ? 
Who has caused, in the last twenty years, a spirit of devotion 
and self-sacrifice in the hearts of good men, and led them to con- 



14 GOD, THE REFUGE 

secratc themselves to the great work of evangelizing and saving 
this portion of the human family? Who has crowned these 
Christian labors with such eminent success, unparalleled in the 
history of modern missions, so that in our own State alone, more 
than fifty thousand of these very people are in the communion of 
His Church ? 

And what is it that these sworn foes to slavery desire to do ? — 
Is it to place the negro race in a better condition, civilly, politi- 
cally, or religiously ? Have they not written their own hypocri- 
sy in capitals before the world, by forbidding their entrance into 
many of their States ? And in those free States, where a scat- 
tered remnant of them still survive, are they not " the most de- 
graded, under-foot, down-trodden/' victims of inhumanity ? What 
would they come to teach them ? Is it contentment, and peace 
and piety? What text-book would they give them? Is it the 
Bible ? No, no ! They would come only to desolate and to blight. 
Under a pretence of religion, they would institute " a higher 
law." Under the pretended sanction of the Gospel of peace, 
they would light up the fires of an exterminating war. Under 
the affectation of Christianity, they would teach the doctrines of 
devils. 

Some of the more moderate and thoughtful among those who 
array themselves against us on this subject, profess an unwilling- 
ness to interrupt by force our existing relations, but at the same 
time desire to effect a peaceful change in public sentiment among 
us. Ignorant of the true state of things, and misled by imagi- 
nary evils, they would teach us a better way. To all such of- 
fers, " be our plain answer this : The laws we reverence are our 
brave fathers' legacy — the faith we follow, teaches us to live in 
bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss 
beyond the grave. We seek no change.; and, least of all, such 
change as they would bring us." 

There is a singular fact connected with the history of slavery 
among us. which seems to have escaped public notice, and which 
conveys a most important moral lesson. In the early periods of 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 15 

our history, this institution was viewed at the South with an evil 
eye. It was commonly regarded as a hindrance to the prosperity 
of those States in which it existed. So common was this feeling 
at the South, that many of our youth were sent for their educa- 
tion into the free States. Thousands who were horn and reared 
among us, looked forward with hope to the day when we should 
be able to rid ourselves of a slave population, and when our ter- 
ritory should become the abode only of the free. At this time, 
there existed among this great body of people no christian mis- 
sions. They lived and died in as utter heathenism, as did their 
pagan progenitors. No man cared for their souls. To speak, 
therefore, of their emancipation, was to address the philanthropy 
and christian feeling of the human heart. 

A little more than twenty years ago, attention was first turned 
to their religious culture. It was remembered that they were hu- 
man beings — that though they were our property, they were also 
our fellow-creatures. It was discovered that their oral instruc- 
tion in the elementary principles of practical and experimental 
religion, was compatible with the public safety, and even tribu- 
tary to the master's interest. To our own State belongs the hon- 
our of having originated this enterprise, and it stands associated 
with a name of which South Carolina has always been proud. 
Since that time, in many of the slaveholding States, the different 
churches have engaged in the work of teaching them their moral 
responsibility, their duty to God, and to their masters. 

Now, mark in this, the hand of a wise and gracious God, ac- 
complishing his own designs in ways we had not known. Had 
the torrent of fanaticism which now threatens to desolate the 
land, come upon us and found us unprepared — had we no moral 
and religious barrier, to interpose against this professed philan- 
thropy — its progress* hjad been irresistible. The great mass of 
Christians in the slave States would have been paralyzed — the 
public sentiment among ourselves would, in all probability, have 
been greatly divided — and no unanimous concurrence of our peo- 
ple could have been expected in its defence, when the institution 



16 GOD, THE REFUGE 

was regarded only as a political one, and, by many, considered 
as an evil. 

But the public mind has now received another direction. Mis- 
sionary efforts for the salvation of the negro race have turned the 
attention of Christians to the more calm and correct appreciation 
of slavery. They found the authority for its existence in the 
Bible — they discovered its obligations and duties sanction- 
ed by a Divine Revelation. The more its discomforts and incon- 
veniences were modified and alleviated, the firmer hold did it 
take upon every Christian heart. And when the battle-cry of 
fanaticism was raised in its first serious attack upon the slave in- 
stitution, its first bold repulse was from the Christian church, 
whose adamantine fortification was the Word of God ! 

This was no " odium theologicum." The question at issue was 
no metaphysical point of speculative theology. It was a ques- 
tion of practical religion, grave in its character, momentous in its 
consequences. And the Southern Church occupied the platform 
which inspiration had laid, when, with the spirit of prophecy, it 
foresaw the licentiousness of later times. " Let as many ser- 
vants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of 
all honour, that the name of God and His doctrine be not blas- 
phemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not 
despise them, because they are brethren ; but rather do them ser- 
vice, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the be- 
nefit. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach other- 
wise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to 
godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about ques- 
tions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, 
evil-surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and 
destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness : from such 
withdraw thyself." 

And now, hallowed by this sacred connection, and assured of 
the righteousness of our cause, and of the promised protection 
and blessing of Heaven, the Christians are among the foremost 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 

to plant themselves in the breach, and to defend with their lives 
this institution of God and our fathers. 

What could more powerfully enforce the salutary lesson, that 
the faithful fulfilment of the duties involved in this relation is 
the best security for its preservation ; and that the only danger to 
be apprehended in connection with it, is the want of fidelity to 
our stewardship ! Look around through all the slave States, and 
you shall find that wherever the greatest attention has been paid 
to the moral duties of this relation, there, the greatest unanimity 
exists, and the loftiest courage is exhibited in its defence. 

No apology will be needed for having occupied your attention 
so long on this topic. It is well that on so solemn an occasion 
our conscientious conviction of the rectitude of our cause should 
be declared before the world. And it is likewise most proper 
that we should know whether we have a right to expect the Di- 
vine blessing, which this day has been specially set apart to seek. 
If our cause be an unjust and sinful one, our humiliation and 
prayers shall be all in vain. For, as saith the Psalmist, " if I 
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." But 
if, on the contrary, we are assured of its righteousness — if we 
can appeal to the Searcher of hearts for our sincerity and integ- 
rity — if what we defend is the institution of God, and consistent 
with his revealed will, then we know that our prayers shall be 
answered and the Divine blessing be given. 

But although the justice of our cause may well embolden us, yet 
is this day most properly consecrated to humiliation and prayer. 
We have many sins for which to mourn and repent. Let us not in- 
dulge in a spirit of pride and vain-boasting, but examine wherein 
we have failed of our duty to God. It is not the rage and malice 
of our enemies we have to fear. We have a conscience void of of- 
fence towards them. We have not wronged them ; we have not ( In- 
serted them in the time of their need ; we have not sought their 
hurt. But our only fear is that we h;ive provoked the displeas- 
ure of our Heavenly Father, by neglecting his commands, and 
being too forgetful of Him — that in the priae and fulness of our 
hearts, we have lost sight of our dependence upon Him. Let us 



18 GOD, THE REFUGE 

return unto Him with penitence and tears. Let us rend our 
hearts and not our garments, and put away all evil from us, and 
in sincerity and truth devote ourselves to Him. Let us remem- 
ber the Sabbath He hath sanctified, and keep it holy. Let us 
meet the high responsibilities of a Christian people with cheer- 
ful and willing hearts. Oh ! I would that He who looketh into 
all hearts might behold in every one of us to-day, and in all our 
people who are surrounding his altars, the spirit of a true contri- 
tion and of a living faith ! Oh ! I would to Heaven that this 
day's acts of penitence and prayer might come before the mercy- 
seat as an acceptable offering, the odour of a sacrifice pleasing to 
God ! Oh ! that there might follow this day's humiliation, such 
an effusion of the spirit of love, and of power, and of a sound 
mind, as should inspire our people with a moral courage, ade- 
quate not only to the necessity of these times, but of all times ; 
such a spirit of rejoicing and heavenly triumph, as neither dan- 
ger can disturb, nor disaster overcome, nor death destroy. Then 
should there be heard the shout of a King in the camp, and the 
people of the Lord should do valiantly. 

Let it be deeply impressed upon our minds, how insufficient 
is human wisdom, how inadequate human power, to achieve 
anything of itself, without the aid of God. It is too common for 
men to rely upon themselves more than upon God. This is per- 
haps one of the abuses we make of our moral agency. It is true 
that we arc not to neglect the right and proper means for the ac- 
complishment of an end, but the best and most efficient means 
may be utterly unavailing, when, depending on them alone, we 
refuse to put our trust in the Lord. The secret spring of all 
moral power is faith in God. 

It were falling infinitely below this great occasion, and losing 
sight of the moral issues it involves, if we should place our se- 
curity and trust in any other than an Almighty arm. We claim 
that our cause is the cause of justice and of truth. We appeal 
to God, as did our fathers in the darkest days of their peril, for 
support ; and we believe that He will guide us safely through. 
But let us not anticipate his time, nor, by any rash precipitancy 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 10 

of our own. take our cause out of his hands. Human pride is 
human weakness. Our sufficiency is of God. If we entrust 
our cause to him, our steps shall be ordered surely. Cast your 
eyes around you, and ask, if we were disposed to lean upon 
earthly aid, whence is that aid to come? Yet, this need not in- 
timidate us. For, what though we were deserted hymen? 
What though the world were in arms against us? Has God 
never delivered his people under circumstances as threatening 
and desperate as even these would be ? Man's extremity has 
always been God's opportunity. And if we had not a hand to 
lift for our defence, the voice Almighty might be heard, bidding 
us, " stand still, and see the salvation of God." 

" Lo ! to faith's enlighten'd sight, 

All the mountain flames with light, 

Hell is nigh, but God is nigher, 

Circlirjg us with hosts of fire." 
"While prayer cannot sanctify that which is unholy in princi- 
ple, yet how great is its advantage, when the object of the prayer 
is good. How powerful, then, should be the influence of this 
day's service upon all our hearts. " For, if God be for us, who 
shall be against us ?" It becomes those who are supported by 
such high considerations, to be above all petty heats of passion — 
to repose with a steady confidence on God — to deliberate calmly — 
to act courgeously. In all we purpose and in all we do, let the 
fear of God be before our eyes, but not the fear of man. For, 
the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; but the fear of 
man bringeth a snare. 

Through the length and breadth of the land, too, it shall be 
told, that South Carolina is not engaged in an unhallowed cause. 
It shall be known, that she has taken no step, engaged herself 
to no line of action, until she had asked direction of Heaven, 
and committed her cause to Him that judgeth righteously. I3ut 
let us not forget, that when we come to place ourselves under 
Divine guidance, and to seek illumination from above, we should 
dispossess our minds of all antecedent prejudices, and sincerely 
implore Almighty God to show us the way in which He would 



20 GOD, THE REFUGE 

have us go. It may not comport with His will, to work out our 
deliverance in the way we might desire. And it would be im- 
pious in us. while asking his counsel, to be determined to pursue 
the course which our prejudices or passions might prefer. It has 
been frequent in the history of nations and of men, that the 
ways in which He has wrought out the deliverance of his peo- 
ple, have been very different from those which they anticipated. 
We are taught to pray, " Thy will be done." 

Whether it shall please Him to interpose at this time, for our 
deliverance, by producing a revolution in public opinion through- 
out the land, making even our enemies to be at peace with us ; 
or, by some signal judgment upon those who persecute us, man- 
ifesting the strength of his displeasure ; or, by cursing them 
with a mental blindness, that by farther aggressions they may 
drive the most tardy and timid into a ready co-operation with 
us — whether He shall be pleased that this Confederacy of States 
shall still continue, with the wrongs of which we complain re- 
dressed, and with a Constitution rescued from the dust, and en- 
vironed around with new securities — or, whether it shall be His 
will that the bonds which have united us shall be severed, and 
new combinations formed ; all these should be left in His hands. 
Nothing is beyond the reach of His power. 

We have not been nursed in the lap of Christianity, and taught 
the Bible from our infancy, without learning that it is not with 
the Lord to save by many or by few. It is not numbers which 
constitute right; neither in morals, do numbers constitute might. 
A firm and true reliance upon God is worth more than a Mace- 
donian phalanx. A secret and lurking infidelity in our hearts 
may say, the age of miracles is gone. But a living faith con- 
fesses no abatement of Jehovah's power. Under the protection 
of that power, we place ourselves to-day. We cannot tell, in the 
boding future, through what dark scenes our path may lie. We 
know not who may survive to witness the triumphs of constitu- 
tional freedom. But, come what may. in weal or in woe, this 
shall be our rejoicing, " God is our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in trouble." Whatever insignia may wave over the 



OF HIS PEOPLE. 21 

bannered hosts of other States, let the glorious and encouraging 
motto on our flag be this : " The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the 
God of Jacob is our refuge." 

Gentlemen of the Senate 

and House of Representatives : 

You occupy this day the most honourable, and yet, the mos! 
responsible position which it is possible for men to hold. In 
your hands, under God, are our destinies, and the destinies of our 
wives, and children, and servants. The eyes of your fellow-citi- 
zens are upon you, awaiting, with intensest interest, your action. 
Our State has been traduced and mocked, as rash and hasty. — 
No efforts have been spared to wean from her the support and 
co-operation of her sister States of the South. Her chivalry has 
been made a bye- word of reproach. Her nice and delicate sense 
of her constitutional rights, has been distorted into disaffection 
to the Union. Her avowed determination to maintain those rights 
" at any and every hazard," has been met by threats of coercion 
if she dare resist. Every thing has been done that could be done 
to provoke your wrath, and urge you to an impetuous and pre- 
cipitate act. You understand the design, and hitherto, South 
Carolina has takeu no step which she has had to retrace. You 
know full well that a constitutional revolution is not the work of 
a day. They who desire our destruction would rejoice to force you 
into a wrong position. Let them find that your indomitable cou- 
rage is tempered by a wise discretion. 

When you adopted the resolutions by which this day was set 
apart for these religious purposes — when you invited the minis- 
trations of religion to hallow your deliberations, and called npon 
the whole people of our State to unite with you in prayer to God 
in this great emergency ; you sent a thrill of joy through every 
Christian heart, and inspired hope and confidence in the breasts 
of us all. Then we saw that our Legislators were placing us 
" rectus in curia" before the world — that you were recognizing 
your dependance, and ours, upon God — that you were taking coun- 



22 GOD, THE REFUGE 

sel where wisdom dwelt, and seeking alliance with a mightier 
power than all the kings of earth. 

And how encouraging to your own hearts must be the thought, 
that, united with you in spirit to-day around the throne of the 
heavenly mercy, are the people you represent, and supplications 
are ascending for you from thousands of souls — that infancy, in 
timid accents, is lisping its early prayer ; and old age, trembling 
under its infirmities, commends you to God ; and female tender- 
ness, with its accustomed faith, implores on you the blessing of 
Beaver] ; while manhood adds all its strength to the general in- 
tercession. 

And may we not suppose that the knowledge of this day's 
transactions shall have its effect far beyond the borders of our own 
State ? May not God make the position of a praying people ter- 
rible to their foes? May not the dark clouds which have hung 
portentously over our sky, be removed by an Almighty Hand ? 
The attitude in which you have placed yourselves by this day's 
proceedings shall reflect honour on your names among the gene- 
rations to come. For it declares that, while you fear no earthly 
power, you own subjection and fealty to the King of Kings. 

Gentlemen, to the best of my humble abilities, I have perform- 
ed the duty with which your kindness has honoured me. I have 
endeavored cautiously to abstain from dictating to you in those 
things which are Legitimately confided to your hands, as the Re- 
presentatives of the people of, South Carolina. I have only sought 
to point you to the true source of wisdom, to the fountain of all 
grace and good. And now, I commend you to God. May He 
enable you so to direct our ship of State through all the perils of 
the present storm, thai she may gallantly ride each heaving bil- 
low, and find safe anchorage in the Port of Peace ! Amen. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 898 424 9 



